


arms, legs, gut, face (all of the things you will never see again)

by craftingdead



Series: tumblr/discord prompts [5]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 00:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15424536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/craftingdead/pseuds/craftingdead
Summary: The only noise that filled the silence now was the faint beeping of all of Xavier’s machines, Nick’s shallow breathing, and Ghetto’s sighs.(Part 2 of "lower your eyelids to die with the sun.")





	arms, legs, gut, face (all of the things you will never see again)

**Author's Note:**

> 18\. “There is nothing you could do to make me love you any less. Okay? My love doesn’t come with strings.”  
> (Title from Aesthetic? (More Like Ass-Pathetic) - Panucci's Pizza)

The only noise that filled the silence now was the faint beeping of all of Xavier’s machines, Nick’s shallow breathing, and Ghetto’s sighs.

He hated it in the CDC. The aura that had surrounded all of them after Nick’s injury had been stifling, choking them in negativity and grief. Shelby rarely came out of her room, only to check up on Nick and go on the occasional raid, during which she’d be gone for several days. Ghetto, on the other hand, had chosen to stay in the small room they were keeping Nick in all hours of the day, never leaving unless he had to, ignoring Xavier’s rule about visiting a patient during nighttime hours. The others would find him fast asleep in the bedside chair and wouldn’t have the heart to wake him up, so there he stayed.

It reminded him of when Jordan died; when everyone was quiet and gave him pitying looks in the hallway. When Barney died and late at night you could hear someone sobbing, never quite knowing if the voice was feminine or masculine. When the White House exploded and they were left on their own, trying desperately to survive with Sky dead.

When Jordan died, Ghetto pulled Nick closer and kissed him harder, vowing to never allow something like that to ever happen to him. When Barney died Ghetto made Nick a place in his bed, waiting as he came every time and holding him through the night as the wind whistled songs of forgotten heroes. When the White House exploded and Ghetto made sure Nick was happy, healthy, even sacrificing his last can of peaches so his love could get a decent meal. They had split it, of course. He watched over Nick through thick and thin; it was the thing he knew best.

And if he didn’t watch over Nick, Ghetto was sure the guilt would kill him before the former even woke up.

God, he fucking said that someone should’ve gone with Nick, that he shouldn’t go off on his own, it could be dangerous, but everyone else brushed him off. The city had been relatively quiet, so they said it would be fine, a quick mission, just scouting out different areas of the city and gathering supplies, nothing too tricky! However, Ghetto still had a bad feeling about the whole situation, so he ended up following Nick. He didn’t know what would’ve happened if he didn’t.

People thanked him for following Nick, of course. Mentioning how if Ghetto wasn’t there, who knows what could’ve happened to him! Gray personally pulled him aside and excused him of all duties for the next few weeks, a break to relax and refresh, but Ghetto knew it wasn’t a private thanks, he wasn’t being excused of “duty.”

No, he had his own duty, one other people didn’t know about.

And that duty was watching over Nick while he was so very vulnerable and made sure nobody fucking touched him who wasn’t supposed to. Ghetto was positive that if Red had walked into the room, he would’ve torn his throat out to protect Nick.

But the natural turn of the tides might get to Nick before anyone else can, and Ghetto was so, so scared of that. How can he protect him from something like that

So he waited for an enemy to come, to disturb the peace of this room, to give Ghetto a reason to fight, to be useful, but until then, all he could do was watch Nick sleep and pretend like he was whenever someone else came in. That cycle on repeat for days as Nick’s conditions progressively got worse and worse, slipping further and further away from them.

Ghetto could feel himself slipping further and further into sleep, the guilty thoughts of the days past taking their toll on him. The chair was uncomfortable but he’d grown accustomed to it, and anyway, it wouldn’t bother him in sleep.

“Jes?”

That chair was forgotten as Ghetto threw himself from it, whispering a soft “holy fuck” as he leaned over Nick, who gazed at him with tired eyes and a small smile. He barely had to shift to the side before Ghetto was in there beside him, curling himself around Nick as the smaller one climbed onto his lap, as usual.

Nick’s voice came from his chest, muffled: “Hey.” Ghetto snorted.

Then again. “M’sorry for nearly dying on you.” Ghetto tensed, reminded of his words from before as Nick continued, “I understand if you’re mad. I’d be mad at me too, for almost dying. Hell, I’d understand it if you hated me now.”

“Hey,” Ghetto said, frowning. They couldn’t both be dealing with self-loathing, he refused to allow it. “Nothing you could do would make me hate you. There is nothing you could do to make me love you any less. Okay? My love doesn’t come with strings.”

He felt Nick shift around, pressing his back against Ghetto’s chest. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to his head, resting his chin on Nick’s head afterward. He felt his boyfriend sigh. “I just feel really shitty right now and equally as tired.” The way he said it put Ghetto on edge; he sounded not exactly there, instead zoned out on something he couldn’t reach.

Ghetto carefully pushed himself out from under Nick, lowering him back onto the bed as to not rip his stitches that Xavier tried so desperately to keep in. “Then rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Leaning over to kiss him on the head again, Ghetto felt Nick’s hand seek out his, grabbing and holding onto it tightly. His eyes were drifting open and shut, dully looking to Ghetto and smiling. Something was off, he could tell it right then and there. He didn’t know if it was from the dull look in his eyes or the way his chest barely rose and fell with his breathing or the instinct in the back of Ghetto’s mind telling him to go run and get someone, to seek help—

Nick’s eyes closed. His hand went limp in Ghetto’s.


End file.
